Chapter 625: Who is the Jackal?

The military report of the captives was not hidden from the court officials, but the news that Arutai had been defeated by Warat was a top secret, and there were very few people in the entire capital who knew the news, that is, the governors of the five prefectures and the seven secretaries of the six prefectures, and so on. Therefore, when he heard that the emperor asked Kaiping to guard the general of Wu'an, Marquis Zheng Heng, to send troops to escort the surrenderer to the Beijing Division, many unknown court officials were talking behind their backs.

In the governor's mansion of the five armies, the seats are divided into center, left, right, front and back, although each province has two governors on the left and right, but Zhu Di has always appointed a noble person to take charge of the government. British Gong Zhang Fu is not there, and now his noble status in Beijing is naturally respected by Zhu Yong, the Duke of Chengguo, but he is only in his early thirties after all. Therefore, at the beginning of the month, Zhu Di re-established the personnel of the five prefectures, and the Chinese military governor's mansion was Anyuan Marquis Liusheng, and the other four prefectures were Yangwu Marquis Xue Lu, Ningyang Marquis Chen Mao, Chengshan Marquis Wang Tong, and Baoding Marquis Mengying.

With such measures, the military headquarters was also in a hurry. However, when Zheng Heng sent someone to send the descendant to the Beijing Division, Zhu Di was infected with wind chill due to the recent heat and cold, and he could not summon people to hear the news. As a result, the East Palace sent an edict to order the Honglu Temple to place people, the Siyi Pavilion to send a general to serve with them, and the Ministry of War to send people to inquire first. Despite this, Li Qing and Zhao Xian were more concerned about the emperor's illness, so they sent this matter directly to the Ministry Division.

Despite this, the emperor was most concerned about this matter, and if possible, he would still meet him in person, so everyone waited for a few days, and saw that Zhu Di was indeed unable to see him, and it was Zhang Yue who finally made this trip.

There are many envoys of various countries during the Yongle period, and after moving the capital to Beijing, it is a continuous tribute every year, so a large piece of place on the left hand side of Xuanwu Gate in the east city of Beijing is the house of Honglu Temple to receive envoys from various countries, and all of them are the courtyard houses of the beams and eaves. In order to facilitate the translation of books, the Siyi Pavilion is also located here, and on weekdays, when there are envoys, the general secretary will translate from the side. Since all the translations and general affairs are used by Guozi Jian Jian Sheng, all of whom are from the imperial examination, those who are gifted in this area often take this shortcut.

Now is not the season for all nations to come to court, Ping'an Hutong is deserted, empty and empty, with few figures. Zhang Yue, who came for the first time, thought of what the two bigwigs in the military department said yesterday that they wanted to show the magnanimity of the Heavenly Dynasty and did not need to send troops to guard the surrender of people, but on the other side, they sent people to the Houjun Governor's Mansion, hinting that all the 100 elite soldiers who escorted this person back from Kaiping would be left, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart that none of these old men were fuel-efficient lamps, and they knew when to use whom people to top the cylinder.

With a messenger to lead the way, he quickly found the courtyard. Sure enough, the garrison here was extremely tight, not only were dozens of strong soldiers set up outside the wall, but also the flashes of weapons could be seen in the hidden courtyard opposite. Entering through the outer door, bypassing the wall in front of him and entering the screen door, he saw an old acquaintance.

"Master Zhang!" Wang Yu, who was pacing in front of the second gate, quickly stepped forward as soon as he saw Zhang Yue, "I knew that this time the military department would send you over." ”

After saluting for a while, he returned to the truth and said: "The descendant this time is the Tartar pseudo-Zhiyuan Gunatai, this person can speak Chinese, but there is no need to do anything. But he was really verbose, and along the way he just nagged how Arutai was treacherous and cruel, and he was bent on asking the emperor to send troops to exterminate him, and he also said that he was willing to be the striker, and the accompanying soldiers were calloused when they heard it. ”

Hearing such a statement, Zhang Yue asked bluntly: "The vanguard army reported that this person led more than 100 of his subordinates to Kaiping to ask for surrender, and there were no wives and children, women and children, and no cattle, sheep and livestock, is this the case?" ”

"Yes, he said that because Arutai was in too much of a hurry, he only had time to run out with his henchmen. But when the heavenly soldiers come, he will immediately lead all the tribesmen to join him, not to mention tens of thousands. He also said that now there are 70,000 or 80,000 troops and horses in the Tatar divisions, and it will be great if they break the border. ”

Zhang Yue already knew it in his heart, so he didn't say anything more at this time. Although Wang Yu said that Gu Natai knew Chinese, he thought about going to see him alone and gossip a lot, so he still brought the Siyi Pavilion general with him. Entering the second gate, there is a huge courtyard, and at the door of the main house stands an old Mongolian man wearing a half-worn and unseasoned felt robe. Before he could speak, the old man swept over him and the general, and then opened the curtain and shouted inside: "Master, the great son of tomorrow has sent someone!" ”

As soon as the words fell, a person rushed out of it, and it was Gunatai. He was about forty years old, bald and bearded, but he had a pair of small eyes that did not fit his rough appearance at all. After looking Zhang Yue up and down for a while, he showed a disappointed expression, muttered a few Mongolian words in a hurry and quickly, and then stepped forward with a forced smile.

I had come a few times before following Zhang Yue's affairs, and he was extremely proficient in Mongolian writing, so he naturally heard Gu Natai's words clearly. So, without waiting for this guy who claimed to be the prefect of the Mongolian Privy Council to say anything, he rushed ahead and said in Chinese: "Lord Gunatai, the emperor sent Lord Zhang to value you!" Don't look at Lord Zhang's youth, even Arutai touched a nail under him at the beginning, do you claim to admire the Central Plains, but you still take people by age? ”

Guna Tai listened to the words of the general matter, and his face showed a surprised and happy expression: "Ah, you are the one who killed Master Zhang?" Forgive me for not having the discerning eye to recognize the famous heroes! Arutai is a cunning wolf, and he is a greedy dog, if you kill him, you will break one of Arutai's arms, may the heavens bless you! ”

These few sentences of fluent Chinese are followed by a series of muttering Mongolian words, but for Gu Natai's enthusiastic appearance of outstretched hands, if Zhang Yue doesn't know some inside information, he would think that this is a bold Mongolian man. When he entered the back room, he saw that it was the style of a yurt with carpets and cushions, and a thought suddenly popped up in his heart.

Was this supposed to be a place to receive envoys from Warat or Arutai?

The Ming Dynasty has always been generous to the surrender of people, in the words of the scholars, that is, it is the best policy to surrender the soldiers without a fight. Even if Arutai, who was beaten to pieces by the Ming Dynasty and Warat successively, cleaned up the remnants of the army and became a vassal, he still received countless benefits such as King Hening and mutual market tribute. Therefore, although Gunatai was only a descender, because he brought such a shocking news and made a gesture of being willing to go with the army as a vanguard, all the supplies of Honglu Temple were according to the above example.

At this time, there was mare's milk wine in the bowl on the table, and the plate next to it was full of beef jerky, and there was a mixture of sweet and fishy smell in the air. Gu Natai stretched out his hand to invite Zhang Yue to sit down, and immediately sat down cross-legged, and immediately said with a smile: "Everyone on the grassland knows the prestige of the Great Tomorrow, so as soon as I heard the news that Arutai was going south, I thought of coming to report the news. Although I only have time to bring out a few people, there are still many old enemies of Arutai on the grassland, as long as they see me as the vanguard of the army, everyone will definitely gather under the banner of the great tomorrow......"

Zhang Yue really didn't bother to listen to this guy's description of the bright prospect of nothingness, and coughed heavily. Seeing that Gunatai was looking at him embarrassedly, he asked with a smile: "I want to ask Lord Gunatai, Arutai invaded Xinghe and failed in the winter the year before last, and last year in order to avoid the sharp edge of our army to flee north, many of its tribes have been scattered, and I heard that there was another war with Warat this year. Now that he has been exhausted so far, where is the spare energy to go south? ”

"This ...... There are many victories and defeats on the grassland, and Arutai has captured many tribes, so naturally he quickly regained his strength! "Gunatai was only surprised for a moment before he re-emerged with a warm smile," Chang said...... You know, the leader of the Warajuros tribe, Tuhuan, used to be a house slave of Arutai, but he is still not as powerful now? A jackal like Arutai must not give him a chance, otherwise once he goes south and grabs a large amount of grain and grass for the winter, then he will grow again next year. He is a great confidant of the Celestial Empire, but he is also our enemy, can I still deceive the wise Tomorrow? ”

Speaking of the rise, his Chinese is becoming more and more fluent: "It is precisely because others can't imagine that Arutai fled north in embarrassment last year, and this year he has a big battle with Warat, and now he dares to attack south, so Arutai will do this even more." Master Zhang, we Mongolians are different from you Han Chinese, you pay attention to thinking twice before acting, while we Mongolians rely on courage. July and August are the seasons when water and plants are fertile, so in order to survive the winter safely, we will of course choose this most suitable time for war! ”

If it weren't for Gunatai's avoidance of talking about the victory or defeat of the battle between Warat and Tatar in the summer, Zhang Yue would have almost completely believed this clever guy. After settling down, he carefully inquired about the confrontation between the Sewivarat and the Tatars, but Gunatai answered them fluently. When he finished the questioning and went out, Gunatai sent him all the way to the second gate.

"Lord Zhang, please be sure to tell His Majesty the Emperor that the extermination of Arutai is the best way to bring the entire Mongolia to its knees! And if you want to get a greater reputation, then naturally you have to rely on war. As far as I know, all of your dukes and marquis are fought by war! ”

Returning to the Yamen of the Ministry of War non-stop, when Zhang Yue went to see Zhao Qian and Li Qing, the two scholars of the Ministry of War, he learned that both of them had already entered the palace. After thinking about it repeatedly, he went out and hurried to the palace, and when he arrived at noon, he asked the guards on duty to report to the cabinet. After waiting for a long time, someone finally came out with the guard.

"Master Dongli!"

Yang Rongjin Youzi was summoned to Wenhua Palace, and Du Zhen went to Hanlin Academy, so Yang Shiqi was the only one left in the cabinet room. Seeing Zhang Yue at this time, he nodded and went to the side with him. asked a few words in a low voice, remembering the look and demeanor when the person from the East Palace came, he couldn't help frowning thoughtfully, and finally made up his mind.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has just summoned Zhao Shangshu and Li Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and called Mian Ren Youzi over, it should be for the north. Since you're here for this matter, I'll take you directly to the Mandarin Palace! ”